Paraplegia is an impairment of the lower extremities of a person's body. Paraplegics are able to use their shoulders and arms but cannot use their legs or muscles from the waist down. The disability presents various difficulties for a person's daily activities. One such difficulty is encountered where the disabled person needs to be transferred between a bed, a wheelchair and possibly a toilet seat.
Various devices exist to assist the transfer of the paraplegic to and from one seated position to another. One such device includes a base with wheels and slings on a lifting arm onto which the paraplegic positions himself. The lifting arm is then raised by lifting means such as a hydraulic jack and the device can then be manoeuvred into position, above the wheelchair, to lower the paraplegic into the wheelchair.
A problem with this type of device is that the paraplegic requires assistance to use the device.